Search

This weekend I had the divine pleasure of visiting my friend Bonnie in Fairfax. She and her husband have created a truly bountiful homestead tucked into the Marin hills and every time I visit I’m tempted to move. The town of Fairfax sits in kind of a valley so from Bonnie’s back porch you can look across to rolling hills and on Saturday morning hear the pop of a baseball bat from the fields below while sipping your tea.

I drove straight from work Friday night to join in on a potluck featuring broccoli! We had broccoli soup, broccoli fritters, even broccoli ice cream! (I forwent the broccoli and opted to bring a growler of Berryessa Pale Ale instead.)

Saturday was the Fairfax Brewfest. Bonnie won free tickets (thank you Facebook contest!) and we showed up at the doors just before 1:00pm. There was already a nice crowd waiting to get in.

After having attended the Capital Beer Fest two weeks ago with something like 90 breweries, our expectations weren’t super high for this event being held in an old gymnasium.

But man it got crowded fast!

And there were tons of great breweries there! Bonnie and I started by talking to the incredibly nice brewers of Triple Rock Brewery and Alehouse in Berkeley. Apparently it’s American’s oldest brewpub. We both tried their Saison which was a bit different than other saison’s I’ve had – more “lemon-y” I thought.

I was also super excited to see Speakeasy there because 1) I just love the name; 2) I had one of their beers at the Beer Shoppe and loved it….but can’t remember what it was; and 3) I keep seeing their beer at the store and wanting to try it. I went with the Payback Porter which was good, but kind of “burnt” tasting at the end.

One fun addition to this brewfest was the “Taste ‘Em & Rate ‘Em” booth.

Six different beers were on display and you did a blind taste test and then voted for your two favorites. I have no idea who won, but it was fun to compare beers of the same style.

Another favorite of mine was Napa Smith. They had several beers to taste but my favorite by far was their “Cool Brew.” Bonnie and I took a vote and Napa Smith won out of all the breweries there. I think this will be the next place I go and visit!